MagicBus commuter shuttle service coming to metro Detroit

MagicBus works by crowdsourcing routes and outsourcing the vehicles and drivers.

The Silicon Valley-based company plans to launch in metro Detroit in the next two weeks to help "give people back their time."

A commuter shuttle service that picks up people near their home and drops them off near work plans to launch in metro Detroit in the next two weeks.

Chris Upjohn, founder of Silicon Valley-based MagicBus, started the service in San Francisco in 2015 as a way to "give people back their time," saying driving to and from work can add up to an hour or two a day of "unproductive time."

Upjohn chose to expand MagicBus to Detroit first because the "cost of car ownership is pretty high, parking in downtown (Detroit) is high, and there are tough commutes and not great public transportation infrastructure."

He said the routes the buses take are crowdsourced. Customers sign up for the service and enter their starting point and destination. Once about 15 people enter a similar route onto the website, service will be provided.

Upjohn said customers will meet the van at a common point, usually fewer than a 10-minute walk from their house. MagicBus will send a text to the rider when it's time to meet the shuttle or customers can track it on their phones.

Customers can book a single trip for about $4 for a short drive or $10-$11 for a longer-distance drive, such as from Troy to Detroit. There's also a monthly unlimited membership, which Upjohn said would be about a 20 percent discount compared to buying an individual ride each day.

In comparison, SMART, metro Detroit's suburban bus system that provides service along 43 routes in 27 Wayne County communities, and 24 communities each in Macomb and Oakland counties, charges $2 per ride or $66 for a monthly pass.

Upjohn said rides on MagicBus could count as an employer-provided transportation benefit, which are tax free up to a certain limit. Detroit-based Rock Ventures LLC companies such as Quicken Loans Inc. and Bedrock Detroit are offering subsidies to employees who use MagicBus.

MagicBus doesn't own or operate the vehicles. Instead, it provides the software platform and works with companies with vehicles that seat 12-20 passengers, such as Ford Transits that have Wi-Fi on board.

For more details, visit magicbusdetroit.com or attend an event 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday in Cadillac Square in downtown Detroit.